'A well-played game, a great crowd and a great atmosphere for women's basketball'

by The Associated Press | Photos by Oregon NewsLab

Oregon Ducks Maite Cazorla (#5) struggles to keep control of the ball. The Oregon Ducks defeated the Oregon State Beavers 75-63 on Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of 7,249 at Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks and Beavers split the two game Civil War with the Beavers defeating the Ducks on Friday night in Corvallis. The Ducks had four players in double digits: Satou Sabally with 21 points, Maite Cazorla with 16, Sabrina Ionescu with 15, and Mallory McGwire with 14. The Ducks shot 48.4% from the floor compared to the Beavers 37.3%. The Ducks are now 7-1 in conference play. Photo by Rhianna Gelhart, Oregon News Lab

The Ducks (18-3, 7-1 Pac-12) broke the game open with a 28-11 second quarter and led by as many as 27 points to snap a 14-game losing streak against the Beavers (14-5, 5-3). Maite Cazorla had 16 points and Mallory McGwire 14 for Oregon.

"It was a great win," Graves said. "That was a well-played game, a great crowd and a great atmosphere for women's basketball."

Kat Tudor scored 17 points and Marie Gulich 16 for Oregon State after they had combined for 62 points in the Beavers' 85-79 overtime win Friday.

Sabally had 13 points in the first half after scoring just three in the first game. She was 9 of 15 from the field and 3 of 7 from the arc to go with five assists.

"She was looking to be a lot more aggressive off the dribble and around the basket, and that was great to see," Graves said. "When she does that with the other kids we've got, it gives us a whole new dimension."

The Ducks asserted themselves early with defense, holding OSU to 25 percent shooting (6 of 24) in the first half. The Beavers had no points in the paint by the break, and the nation's best 3-point shooting team was only 1 of 7 as Oregon built a 40-18 lead.

McGwire was particularly effective forcing the 6-foot-5 Gulich off her favorite post-up spots before help arrived to double-team the Beavers' top scorer at 17.1 points per game.

"I think the first 20 minutes was the best defense that's ever been played in this arena since I've been here," Graves said, "and probably ever on the women's side, so I was really proud of how in tune and focused we were with each other."

Oregon State was 13 of 26 from the arc in the first meeting, but that went down to 7 of 21 against a defense that was more man than zone in the rematch.

"We didn't move the ball as well tonight," OSU coach Scott Rueck said. "I didn't think we saw the floor nearly as well tonight, and we didn't get into sets.

"They played very aggressive tonight, and that was the difference. They were the aggressor."

Ruthy Hebard's 10 rebounds led the Ducks to a 41-30 edge on the boards. They also outscored the Beavers 32-14 in the paint.

BIG PICTURE

Oregon, the fourth No. 1 seed in first NCAA ratings released Thursday, leads the Pac-12 by a game over UCLA and Stanford. However, the Ducks will continue to tinker with their rotation without injured 3-point specialist Lexi Bando, the NCAA's active career leader beyond the arc at 45.5 percent.

Oregon State has work to do with three conference losses and six of its last 10 games on the road if it hopes to claim a fourth consecutive Pac-12 regular-season championship.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Oregon is 15-1 when it out-rebounds opponents, and Oregon State is 3-5 when it scores fewer than 70 points